hashashinwikiaorg-20200213-history
Templars
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of Solomon's Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or''Templiers'') or simply as Templars, were among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western Christian military orders. The Assassins and Knights Templar were very similar. Both were warrior-monk orders, both are rooted in secrecy, both used gardens for recreation and both believed in dying honorably in servitude to their master. The Templars were prominent actors in Christian finance. The organization existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages. Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. The Templars' existence was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, took advantage of the situation. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day. Assassin-Templar Skirmishes and Negotiations Avenging Raymond II of Tripoli Around 1151, the Frankish Count of Tripoli, Raymond II, was assassinated under the orders of Hashashin Chief Da'i Abu Muhammad, in consequence of which the Templars raided Hashashin territory and compelled the inhabitants to pay a tribute. Avenging Raymond de Poitiers When the Assassins killed Raymond de Poitiers in 1213, the Templars few to arms to avenge his death; they penetrated into the mountain strongholds of "Sheikh Al-Jibal", while Raymond's father, Bohemond IV aided by a reinforcement of Templars assaulted the Hashashin castle of Khawabi. The Ismailis requested aid from the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo, az-Zahir Ghazi, who in turn appealed to his rival and uncle al-Adil, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. Az-Zahir's relief army was dealt a major setback when the Muslim force was nearly destroyed in a Crusader ambush at Jabal Bahra, on the approaches of Khawabi. However, after al-Adil's son, al-Mu'azzam of Damascus, launched several raids against Bohemond's district of Tripoli, destroying all of its villages, Bohemond was compelled to withdraw from Khawabi and issue an apology to az-Zahir. The majority of the Templars did not leave and at last compelled the Hashashin to pay a tribute of two thousand dinars into the treasury of the order. According to chronicler Jacques de Vity, the Hashashin Leader sent a trusty counselor to Jerusalem, asking the Templars to release them from the tribute of money and in turn, he and his men will convert to Christianity. Jacques de Vity wrote that the proposition was favorably received; the envoy was honorably entertained for some days, and on his departure he was furnished by the king with a guide and an escort to conduct him in safety to the frontier. The Assassin had reached the borders of the Latin Kingdom, and was almost in sight of the castles of his brethren, when he was cruelly murdered by the Knight Templar Walter du Mensil, who attacked the escort with a body of armed followers. The King of Jerusalem, justly enraged at this treacherous action and demanded the surrender of the criminal. The Templar informed the King that the Knights Templar were not subject to his jurisdiction; that the Templars only obeyed the Pope. Walter was arrested, put in irons and sent to Rome. The reliability of this account has been disputed by scholars. Negotiations with Tajuddin Abul Futah, Prince of the Bedouins Hashashin Chief Da'i Tajuddin Abul Futah sent envoys to Louis IX, King of France, to either to pay tribute to them or at least release them from paying tribute to the Templars and Hospitallers. The French however did not pay tribute to the Assassins of Syria, who continued to pay their own tribute to the Templars and Hospitallers. Joinville then relates how the king promised to deliver his reply in a second meeting, which was convened later on the same day in the presence of the Grand Masters of the Templars and Hospitallers; but instead of keeping his promise, the emissaries were now pressured by the Grand Masters, Reginald of Vicheir and William of Chateauneuf, into repeating their earlier request. Joinville explains that in the course of a third meeting which took place on the following day, the Grand Masters reprimanded the Nizari emissaries for having conveyed such an imprudent message to the King of France, and they enjoined the emissaries to return to their Cheif Da'i and "to come back within fifteen days with such letters from their prince that the king shall be contented with him". According to Joinville, who may have been present at some of these meetings, the Nizari envoys returned to Acre within the specified period, bringing valuable gifts from their Chief Da'i. Desiring to procure close ties with the Syrian Ismailis, the king Saint Louis responded to their peace initiative by sending his ambassadors with gifts to the Hashashin chief. This Frankish mission also included an Arabic-speaking friar, Yves the Breton. It was in the course of his meetings with the Assassin chief Tajuddin Abul Futuh, held at Masiyaf, that Yves asked the articles of the Ismaili faith and reported back to the king as he understood. It is curious that Yves the Breton wrongly reported the king the Ismaili beliefs "incorrectly". Allegeded Assassin Influence on the Templars Occult and Esoteric Influence It cannot be disputed the Templars had “long and important dealings” with the Hashashin “and were therefore suspected (not unfairly) of imbibing their precepts and following their principles. The Templars along with all Europeans in the area were greatly affected by their contact with the Muslim East. They learnt the daily customs, the languages and business practices, discussed philosophy, and lived among what must have seemed an almost alien culture. In time, Templar ranks contained people who had spent more time in the Middle East than in Europe, and some who had little or no memory of European life, custom and philosophy. Under these conditions, the initial contact between the Templars and the Assassins occurred. As the systematic overturning of Muslim Shariah took place among the Syrian Nizaris, some sense of the subtlety of their beliefs may have been communicated to their new acquaintances. By this time, the Hashashin had already rejected Islamic dogma and acquired the heretic tag. Later the Templars would also find themselves denounced as ‘vile heretics’. Assassins became known to the Muslim world as Ta’limiyyah or “people of the secret teaching.” The idea that they were the guardians of a secret or inner doctrine had always been promoted by Hassan-i Sabbah, and they were feared and revered for this very reason. Branded as heretics, the Templars met their end in the 14th century. One of the charges levelled against the Templars was they kept “secret liaisons with Muslims,” and were accused of “being closer to the Islamic faith than to the Christian.” In reality, the Templars had found a mirror image of themselves in the mysterious Order of Assassins, and held the Western face of the same esoteric doctrine. It was even written that a number of Templar Knights were initiated by the Assassin Master, while others were given standing rank, so close was their secret teaching considered. Organizational Influence The Christian Order of the Knights of Templars, who came into contact with some of the Hashashin commanders during the Crusades were reputed to have adopted the Assassins’s system of military organisation. The organisation of the Assassin Order called for missionaries and teachers known as da’is, the disciples and spiritual followers known as the rafiqs, and the'' fidais'' or devotees who in practice were the trained killers. The fidais were not part of the original Ismaili model, but were later added by Hassan-i Sabbah. The Templar hierarchy is said to be derived from this model and can be easily compared, where the Assassin offices of da’is, rafiqs, and fidais correspond to the Templar degrees of Novice, Professed, and Knight. The Templars assimilated the system but adjusted the core symbolism to their own purposes. Where the levels used in the Assassin model denoted particular functions and duties, the Templar levels further developed the concept of progressive learning and acquired skill, similar to the modern military ideas of private, corporal, and general. Every Templar Knight was, at one point, a novice, and a professed member, but not every Assassin was a da’i or a rafiq. In fact it was said that Hassan would never let a candidate become a fidais who had sufficient intellect to become a missionary. The spiritual man stood above all others in the Order. The Assassins believed they held the secret or inner Islam, a completely esoteric component unavailable to those uninitiated in their philosophies. Their system of organisation was developed to both guard the secret doctrine and strictly control the continuance of the teaching. A number of schools were established practicing this organisational model, including secret rites and rituals. Members were enrolled on the understanding they were to receive hidden power and timeless wisdom that would enable them to become as important in life as some of the great teachers. Hassan enlisted young men between the ages of twelve and twenty from the surrounding countryside. It was said that Hassan would often buy unwanted children from their parents, and train them in line with his purposes. The Order was an organisation of the common people of the land, far removed from the typical aristocratic blueblood that petitioned for the Knights Templar mantle. Another regular activity of the Assassins was the hiring of useful, rare and distinguished personages who could be of value to them in educational, military or other spheres and holding them captive in Alamut. These individuals were respected physicians, astronomers, mathematicians and painters. Assassins coveted knowledge the way the Templars seemed to covet spirituality. It is true that both the Templars and the Assassins shared a policy of secrecy. Their teachings were kept for the eyes and ears of initiates only. Comparisons with the Essenes, Cathars, and Sufis spring to mind as similar attempts to release the esoteric heritage of the soul. In the past, these enlightened groups existed without knowledge of each other, but the Crusades caused two of these groups to meet, comparing doctrines and making alliances. Alleged Use of Cannabis The alchemical information about cannabis use was reintroduced into Europe after the Dark Ages, when the Knights Templar, founded by Hugh de Payns (“of the Pagans”) around the beginning of the twelfth century, supposedly became involved in a trade of goods and knowledge with the Isma’ilis. While Ismaili use of cannabis has not been confirmed, Sufi use of the herb has. Idries Shaw, the Grand Sheik of the Sufis and historian of their faith, commented on the connection between the Templars and the Sufis: "That the Templars were thinking in terms of the Sufi , and not the Solomonic, Temple in Jerusalem, and its building, is strongly suggested by one important fact. “Temple” churches which they erected, such as one in London, were modeled upon the Temple as found by the Crusaders, not upon any earlier building. This Temple was none other than the octagonal Dome of the Rock, built in the seventh century on a Sufi mathematical design, and restored in 913. The Sufi legend of the building of the Temple accords with the alleged Masonic version. As an example we may note that the “Solomon” of the Sufi Builders is not King Solomon but the Sufi “King” Maaruf Karkhi (died 815), disciple of David (Daud of Tai, died 781) and hence by extension considered the son of David, and referenced cryptically as Solomon — who was the son of David. The Great murder commemorated by the Sufi Builders is not that of the person (Hiram) supposed by the Masonic tradition to have been killed. The martyr of the Sufi Builders is Mansur el-Hallaj (858-922), juridically murdered because of the Sufi secret, which he spoke in a manner which could not be understood, and thus was dismembered as a heretic." — Idries Shaw, The Sufis Mansur el Hallaj, an outspoken advocate of intoxication as means to spiritual ecstasy, is stated to have been the founder of the still existing Order Templar Orientis in their official documentation, either written by, or under the supervision of Aleister Crowley, who at one time was a grand master of the Order. Interestingly el-Hallaj is also connected with the pre-European history of alchemy. Not surprisingly many have credited the Templars with being a vital link in this chain of transmission. The famed New Age author, and modern day “stoned philosopher” Robert Anton Wilson, wrote a whole book on the Templars, putting forth a theory that they were practicing a form of Arabic Tantrism, and ingesting hashish, a technique they had allegedly picked up from their contact with the Assassins. Unfortunately Wilson offers no documentation, but does comment that; "ambiguous references to a sacred plant or herb appear in their Templars surviving manuscripts.” Trivia * A man who goes by the "Templar of Tyre" recorded the assassination attempt on Edward I of England * It is said that the Templars may have hired Hashashin to kill Raymond II of Tripoli, but there is little to no evidence to back up the claim. Sources * http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/the-templars-and-the-assassins-angels-and-demons * http://www.alchemylab.com/cannabis_stone1.htm * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar Category:Factions